Some pictures of the natural world around Sussex as seen on my daily dog walks.

Thursday, 27 August 2015

This week's finds

Still getting some sun between the showers so bugs and butterflies are still around the garden.

There have been a few holly blues spending some time here. They were usually looking for nectar sources. One, pictured left, liked the veronica, while another, right, seemed to prefer heather.

I have pictured a few bugs on the blog this year. Up to now, they have all been adults but I've found some nymphs lately. The first one, left, is a very early stage of the hawthorn shieldbug, acanthosoma haemorrhoidale. The nymphs go through about five stages called instars. They moult their skin at the end of each stage.The nymph here is tiny (only 2-3 mm long) and is probably a first instar.

Below is another nymph. This time it's a much later instar, probably fourth, of the common green shieldbug, palomena prasina. It appears to be feeding on the pollen of a cosmos flower but that may be misleading as they are meant to live on sap from trees and shrubs.